Law and regulation

The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it plans to sell off its shares in seven more community banks as part of its ongoing effort to wind down the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

More than 30 state trade associations have joined the Independent Community Bankers of America in urging Congress to extend the Transaction Account Guarantee program, which offers banks unlimited deposit insurance on transaction accounts.

J.P. Morgan Securities could pay up to $44.6 million for allegedly manipulating municipal bond contracts in a proposed settlement the JPMorgan Chase (JPM) unit reached with municipal bond issuers.

On the same day the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced a board meeting next week to discuss Basel III capital rules, agency officials Tuesday said most community banks are already in solid position to comply with new requirements.

An effort is gaining momentum to require banks that want municipal business to lend more in low-income neighborhoods. And it's not just mega-banks being targeted — smaller banks are seen as fairing worse in this type of lending.

The OCC promoted David Wilson to oversee national banks supervision, even though he's married to a B of A exec. It then quietly reversed itself later, raising new questions about its coziness with the banks it regulates.

Josef Ackermann, who stepped down late last week as CEO of Deutsche Bank, opined late Monday on the fate of Europe, the Euro and how he thinks political leaders should move forward.

The OCC promoted David Wilson to oversee supervision policy for all national banks, even though he is married to a high-level executive at Bank of America. Although it quietly reversed itself later, the incident raises more questions about how close the agency is to the banks it regulates.

BDO Consulting was hired as the primary firm responsible for monitoring compliance with the $25 billion settlement.

Large banks generally have tackled new rules requiring ATMs to have voice-navigation features for the visually impaired, but for small banks it's another story.

A significant reason JPMorgan Chase can't be regulated effectively is that its size, amplified by the CEO's voice, puts the bank above and beyond the reach of regulators, writes Andrew Kahr.

In an effort to coordinate with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, regulators moved ahead with an agreement that will minimize duplicative efforts and regulatory burden on institutions with $10 billion or more in assets.

It's official. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Securities and Exchange Commission have the same watchdog monitoring their work, temporarily at least.

Former U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd weighed in on JPMorgan Chase's highly publicized trading loss, pointing to it as validation of the need for the landmark financial reform legislation of which he was a co-author.

The Federal Reserve Board turns 100 this December. To mark the event the U.S. central bank is pulling together an inventory of historical materials.

Illinois Rep. Donald Manzullo used a congressional hearing Friday on cyber-security to share some of his own, largely negative experiences with computers.

The stress tests failed to predict the losses that could result from hedges by JPMorgan, but the bank's high level of capital helped ensure it didn't trigger a broader problem for the firm or the system. Still, the existing capital requirements are inadequate, experts say.

Industry officials told a House panel that more cooperation between the public and private sectors is necessary in the fight against cyber-attacks.

FlexWage, which provides short-term financing to underbanked consumers, says its products are cheaper and more customer-friendly than the payday loans that regulators are scrutinizing.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency "underestimated" the risk of poor foreclosure practices at national banks and did not devote enough examination resources to identify those problems, according to the agency's chief watchdog.